by Satyajit Ray
Feluda stopped for breath. I started feeling most confused. ‘What about Mr Mallik?’ I blurted out.
Feluda smiled. ‘The presence of Jayant Mallik can be very easily explained. In fact, it was so simple that even I could not figure it out at first. Mr Mallik was simply following Chattoraj.’
‘Why?’
‘For the same reason that I was chasing him! He wanted to retrieve the statue, like me. But that isn't all. He and I do the same job. Yes, he's a private detective, just like me.’
I cast a startled glance at Mr Mallik. He said nothing, but I saw that he was grinning, looking at Feluda, and waiting for him to explain further.
‘When I made enquiries about him,’ Feluda went on, ‘I discovered that he worked for an agency in Bombay. They sent him to Calcutta recently, in connection with a case. He stayed in a friend's flat in Queen’s Mansion, and used his car while the friend was away on holiday. Normally, the kind of cases these agencies handle are all ordinary and pretty insignificant. Mr Mallik was getting bored with his job. He wanted to do something exciting, much more worthwhile and become famous. Is that right?’
‘Yes,’ Mr Mallik admitted. ‘I got the chance to work on such a case, most unexpectedly. My old job took me to the Grand Hotel last Thursday, and I happened to be in Nagarmal's shop when an American visitor showed that yakshi's head to him. At that time, I paid no attention. All that I grasped was that the man was immensely wealthy, and his name was Silverstein. But, when I heard about the plane crash the next morning and they said he had been on that flight, it suddenly struck me that it might be possible to retrieve that statue. I have a little knowledge of ancient art, and I knew that what I had seen Silverstein carrying was extremely valuable. So I thought if I could get it back, it might be reported in the press, which would be a good thing for the agency as well. So I rang my boss in Bombay and told him what I wanted to do. He agreed, and asked me to keep him posted. I left for Sidikpur immediately, but it was too late. I missed Chattoraj by just five minutes. He got there first and bought the head back. There didn't seem to be anything I could do, but—’
‘Do you remember the colour of his car?’ Feluda interrupted him.
‘Oh yes. It was a blue Fiat. I decided to follow Chattoraj. But I ran into some more problems. A burst tyre meant an unnecessary delay … so I lost him for the moment. However, by then I was absolutely determined not to give up. I knew he'd want to sell the statue again. So I went back to the Grand Hotel. It meant waiting for a while, but eventually I found him and followed him to the railway booking office. He bought a ticket to Aurangabad. So did I. He was still carrying a heavy bag, so it was clear that he had not been able to get rid of the statue. I came back to my flat, rang my office in Bombay and told them what had happened.’
‘Yes, we know about that. You had said, “The daughter has returned to her father”. What we did not know was that by “father” you meant Chattoraj, not yourself.’
Mr Mallik smiled, then continued, ‘I kept waiting for a suitable opportunity to remove the stolen object. I knew if I could catch the thief at the same time, it would be even better. But that proved much too difficult. Anyway, last night I went and hid near Kailash. When I saw that everyone from the bungalow had gone out in the direction of the caves, I returned quickly, slipped into the bungalow through the side door that only the cleaners use, and removed the statue from Chattoraj's room.’
‘I see. Did you have any idea you were being watched by a detective?’
‘Oh no. That's why I couldn't speak a word when you arrested me! I must have looked very foolish.’
Mr Ghote burst out laughing. Feluda took up the tale, ‘When I saw that you had travelled with Lewison in the same car for many miles, but had done nothing to sell him the statue, I realized you were innocent. Until then, although I'd come to know you were a detective, I could not drop you from my list of suspects.’
‘But Chattoraj was also on this list, wasn’t he?’
‘Yes. Mind you, initially it was no more than a slight doubt. When I saw that his name had been freshly painted on an old suitcase, I began to wonder if the name wasn’t fake. Then, Lalmohan Babu told us yesterday that he had gone out wearing a raincoat. When we were passing cave number fifteen, I noticed someone was in it, and threw a pebble in the courtyard. That made the man run away. I then went into the cave and began searching the surrounding area. In a smaller cave behind the big one, I found the raincoat. It had a specially large pocket, in which was a hammer, a chisel, and a nylon rope. I left everything there. It became obvious that Raxit—or Chattoraj—was the real culprit. As we returned to the bungalow, we saw him desperately searching for something in his room. In fact, he seemed to have gone mad, which is understandable since he had come back to his room to find that his precious statue had gone. This morning, Mr Kulkarni told me you had called Bombay and said, “The daughter is fine”. That meant you had the stolen statue with you. So you had to be arrested.’
Feluda stopped. No one said anything. After a short pause, he went on, ‘While we were worrying about statues and thieves, Shubhankar Bose got killed. On examining his dead body, we found a piece of blue cloth in one of his hands. You were wearing a blue shirt yesterday. But I didn't think of you, since my suspicions had already fallen on Chattoraj. What really happened was that he reached Bose's body before me and, pretending that he was trying to feel his pulse, pushed in that torn piece into the dead man's hand. It had become essential for Chattoraj to throw suspicion on someone else for Bose's death. The torn piece had, of course, come from Chattoraj's own shirt. He had cut out a piece and hidden the shirt amongst the plants and bushes behind the bungalow. I found it myself.
‘However, although I had gathered some evidence against Chattoraj, it was not enough to actually accuse him of murder and theft. As I was wondering what to do, Tapesh and Lalmohan Babu told me that someone had been through their belongings. This had to be Chattoraj, for he had lost something valuable and was naturally looking for it everywhere. In Lalmohan Babu's suitcase was his notebook, which mentioned the theft of the statue from Bhubaneshwar, Silverstein, and the plane crash. I knew at once that Chattoraj had read every detail and was feeling threatened, thinking it was Lalmohan Babu who had stumbled on the truth. So I sent him a little note, pretending it had been written by Lalmohan Babu, asking Chattoraj to meet him in the Das Avatar cave at 8 p.m. Before that, however, I told Chattoraj that whoever had tried to steal a statue from Kailash the night before had been arrested. I knew this would set his mind at rest, and he would stop being on his guard.’
‘That man with the goatee!’ Lalmohan Babu and I cried together, ‘Was that you?’
‘Yes,’ Feluda laughed. ‘That was my disguise number two. I felt I had to stay close to you, since we were dealing with a dangerous man. Anyway, he swallowed my bait at once. He thought a few sharp words from him would really make Lalmohan Babu return the head to him, and he could get away with it once again. Well, we all know what happened next.
‘There is only one thing left for me to say: Mr Mallik and his agency will get full credit for their share in catching this gang. And I shall pray for a promotion for Mr Ghote. I must also thank Mr Kulkarni for the important role he played, but if a medal for courage and bravery could be given to anyone, it should go jointly to Tapeshranjan Mitter and Lalmohan Ganguli.’
‘Hear, hear!’ said Mr Mallik, and the others clapped enthusiastically.
When the applause died down, Lalmohan Babu turned to Feluda and said a little hesitantly, ‘Does that mean … this time my weapon didn't come into any use at all?’
Feluda looked perfectly amazed. ‘Not come into use? What are you talking about? Where do you think all that smoke came from? It was no ordinary bomb, sir. Do you know what it was? A 356 megaton special military smoke bomb!’
Read the other Adventures of Feluda in Puffin
The Emperor’s Ring
Trouble in Gangtok
The Golden Fortress
Th
e Incident on the Kalka Mail
The Royal Bengal Mystery
The Mystery of the Elephant God
The Bandits of Bombay
The House of Death
The Curse of the Goddess
Trouble in the Graveyard
The Criminals of Kathmandu
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First published in Puffin by Penguin Books India 2003
Copyright © The Estate of Satyajit Ray 2003
This translation copyright © Penguin Books India 2003
ISBN: 978-01-4333-566-5
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This digital edition published in 2011.
e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-213-7
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